Underdog
by WeatherRains
Summary: When Arthur sends Merlin back to Ealdor for a 'holiday', no one imagined what would happen next. (Bad summary but this is a reveal fic) Prequel to Merlin's Voice
1. Chapter 1

_Hello again, lovely people. So.. this is a sequel/prequel to Merlin's Voice. It's set before Merlin's Voice because... I don't know, so I guess its a prequel. People wanted more of Arthur and Merlin's relationship and I've always wanted to try my hand at a reveal fic, though I can't promise it'll be very good. And yes, this first chapter is incredibly short, bear with me, I think they'll get longer as the story goes on..._

It was a rare day when Merlin was so incredibly late that the king had to go and find the idiot himself, yet today was one of those days. Arthur stormed through the castle, towards the physicians chambers, his face set in a stony glare. He had managed to dress himself, despite what Merlin said he wasn't completely useless... That being said, his shirt was still on backwards.

His footsteps echoed loudly throughout the almost empty corridor as servants and maids stepped aside to bow and allow their king to pass them swiftly. Puffing out his chest, Arthur reached the physician and Merlin's chambers and flung open the door.

The sight that met his eyes was not one he was expecting.

The elderly physician and Arthur's young manservant sat beside each other in the middle of the room facing away from the table covered in mixtures and remedies. Gaius had one arm around Merlin comfortingly. Frowning to himself, Arthur realised they hadn't heard him enter and was about to shout to them from the doorway, when he froze for a sob had escaped Merlin. Arthur stood, shocked still. Suddenly, Gaius spoke, still oblivious to the king in his doorway.

"Merlin, I cannot imagine how hard it is. Don't blame yourself. We all need an outlet at times." At his words, the warlock bowed his head and sniffed.

"Sorry," Merlin mumbled, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket.

"Oh, my boy, you don't need to apologise. You have nothing to be sorry for. It's not your fault you can't always handle things by yourself, and you know I don't expect you to. It's such a lot for one person to bear." Then Gaius squeezed his nephew with the one arm which was hung around Merlin's shoulders.

Staring at the two men, Arthur wondered what they could possibly be talking about. Could it be that he was working Merlin too hard? From the sounds of things, this had happened before and the skinny man had been working for the king for quite a few years now. Perhaps it _was _Arthur's chores for his servant driving him into the ground...

Before Merlin could speak again, Arthur decided to take his leave. Carefully, he stepped silently out of the room and closed the door behind himself with a soft click and making sure neither Gaius nor Merlin had heard. Almost collapsing against the wall, the blond man rubbed a hand over his face and thinking.

"Sire, is everything alright?" A passing guard had noticed the king emerge from the physician's chambers, a sombre and shocked expression plastered onto his face. Arthur shook himself out of his reverie.

"Of course." He answered shortly, and the guard bowed slightly and went on his way.

The king stood still for a moment more, then made up his mind about what he was to do. Once again making sure that Gaius and Merlin were still inside the physician's chambers, Arthur set off at a brisk walk towards the Queen's rooms, where he hoped his wife would be.


	2. Chapter 2

_I suck, I know. I'm such a bad updater there's just been a whole load of stuff going on right now and this is only a small instalment so I apologise for that. this is really just a filler I guess. next chapter will be within the next 2 weeks hopefully I'm sorry I'm such a bad updater gosh. _

Knocking on Guinevere's door, Arthur tapped his foot impatiently and waited for his wife to emerge from her chambers. After what felt like hours, the queen opened the door to her husband, who entered the room quickly and sat down on his wife's bed.

"Arthur? What is it?" Gwen had always understood what Arthur was feeling by his body language, and as his wife, had always offered him sanctuary with her. Gently, she stroked his blond hair from his forehead.

"It's Merlin. Well... no, it's something Merlin was doing... I don't know what to do," Arthur said, confusing Gwen who was now sitting beside him on the bed facing him.

"What happened? Start from the beginning, you can tell me." At last Arthur looked in her dark eyes and saw only comfort and warmth.

"Merlin was late, as usual, so I decided to see what was keeping him this time... but when I got to Gaius' chambers, Merlin was... crying. Gaius was saying something about how he has too much to bear for one man. Guinevere, do you think I work Merlin too hard?"

Gwen gave a small, sad smile and put a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"I think maybe it's time you gave Merlin some time off. He has been working very hard lately, you could let him visit his mother. He'd like that."

The king mulled over what Gwen had said for a minute or two before responding with a small smile.

"Yes. Yes, he would like that. Give him a break from his duties, go see his mother. I can get George to cover for him, I think I can survive two weeks with George's constant brass jokes. Thank you, Guinevere, what would I do without you?" Kissing his queen's lips, Arthur stood up and shook himself a little like a dog.

"When will he be leaving, do you think? He'll need provisions and-"

"Guinevere, Merlin's not leaving straight away. I'll go and tell him now what's happening and then maybe tomorrow or early the next day he can leave, once everything is sorted. And anyway, Merlin can take care of himself more often than not..." The king trailed off, realising that perhaps he was wrong and that Merlin couldn't look after himself if the conversation he witnessed earlier was anything to go by.

It was just a holiday Merlin needed, Arthur had decided. That would solve Merlin's problems, who doesn't love a holiday from work? Also, the servant would be seeing his mother again, something Arthur knew the other man always looked forward to. Maybe also, when he got back, Arthur could be a little less... demanding of Merlin.


End file.
